Upstream Ideas

Will the Cook Cook County Board repeal the sugary beverage tax or will Queen Sugar get her way? Cook County projected collecting $18M in sugary taxes in August but actually collected only $300K. Do they have the votes for veto-proof repeal of the tax? Cook County Commissioner for the 1st District, Richard Boykin, joins Dan and Amy to discuss the repeal of the sugary beverage tax and why he thinks Preckwinkle’s scare tactics against repeal are dishonest, disingenuous, and irresponsible.

Has the left even attempted to connect the gun control hysteria to any public policy goals? Is there a culturally rooted problem that we should be focusing on? Has the left cracked the case with blaming white male rage and existence as the problem? National Review Editor, Rich Lowry joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

Illinois has once again created a new open ended spending program in a state with 16 billion dollars in unpaid bills to fund abortions on demand. Would Trump's new plan for tax reform finally force high tax states like Illinois to lower their taxes? “Low tax states shouldn’t have to subsidize high tax states for their inefficient government services.” Or states that offer abortion on demand for that matter. CNN Senior Economist and former aide to the President, Stephen Moore joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

Did NBC conveniently wait until the day President Trump was traveling to Vegas to meet with victims and their families to release the Tillerson comments that were allegedly said in July? Should the FBI wait to comment on possible motives or potential ISIS affiliation until the investigation is concluded? Could childhood disturbances and gambling debts, common hardships for a lot of people, possibly lead someone to become a mass murderer? The Vegas shooter’s motive remains a complete question mark. Former Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

“Smart Democrats are terrified of the economic growth to come because it makes the eight years of Obama’s bad economy a lie when they say it couldn’t be helped.” If big government Democrats and Republicans want to give more money to the government, they can just write a check, they don’t have to put their hands in their neighbors' pockets. President of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

Nancy Pelosi’s response to addressing gun violence is to form a committee. When the Democrats had the White House and controlled both chambers, why didn’t they move on the issue of gun control if it is such a moral duty? Instead, Congressman Roskam suggests they were too busy screwing up healthcare and the economy. Where does Congress stand on tax reform? Why should the rest of the country pay for the sins of Illinois politicians when discussing eliminating the deductions for state and local taxes? Representative for Illinois' 6th Congressional District, Peter Roskam joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

Acts of heroism displayed amid the horror in Las Vegas. The shooter's brother spoke but the motive is still unclear. ISIS also claims credit but there is no evidence to corroborate. What, if any, enhanced security measures should hotels or office buildings make to prevent another Vegas?  Former FBI assistant director and President of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Ron Hosko joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

“When the left teaches our young people not to man up, to be whiners, weenies, and wimps, a man will look himself in the mirror at some point, recognize he’s not doing what he’s supposed to be doing and he’s going to be angry and his anger cannot be turned on himself so he turns on everyone else.” Why isn’t the anger turned on those who subjugate the black community through incentivized dependency instead of symbols of liberty and freedom? Former NFL player and author of “LIBERALISM: Or How To Turn Good Men Into Whiners, Weenies, and Wimps,” Burgess Owens joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

More details emerge on the Vegas shooter's work history and finances as well as statements from the shooter's girlfriend's sisters. A new propaganda video from ISIS was released but the motive is still a wide open question. Was the shooter’s psychological break related to him wanting to continue his father’s criminal legacy? Were the concert goers merely representational targets of people the killer despised? Retired FBI Special Agent James Fitzgerald, the criminal profiler from the Unabomber case, joins Dan and Amy with insight on the investigation into the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

“They need to offer something that will stop mass shootings, not something that will take guns away from ordinary citizens.” Passionate misinformation about guns and gun-owners make it more difficult to find solutions, writes The Federalist's David Harsanyi. Are there also concerns rising about the advocacy of more big brotherism? David Harsanyi, Senior Editor for TheFederalist.com, joins Dan and Amy to discuss the political debate in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Illinois House GOP Minority Leader Jim Durkin is now facing a primary challenge from conservative reformer Burr Ridge Mayor, Mickey Straub. Durkin is a career politician that has been in the General Assembly for almost two decades with little success to show. His failed leadership was on full display when ⅓ of his caucus voted for the record-breaking income tax hike with zero reforms, not to mention the Durkin's glaring conflict of interest in representing municipal governments in his legal practice (http://prairiestatewire.com/stories/511231764-horrible-conflict-of-interest-for-house-republican-leader-durkin). Mickey Straub says he is running for office to put Illinois on a new path and solve problems in Springfield as he’s done as Mayor of Burr Ridge. Mickey Straub, candidate for the 82nd District, joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

“The psychological laziness of the mainstream media that they need it to be about bigotry and racism, but they don’t know how to talk about things in any other terms.” Does the mainstream media try to play a game of connect the dots to link every Trump narrative to bigotry? Was the press waiting for a story to cover after seemingly good coverage of Trump’s role in Harvey and Irma relief? Is the Mayor of San Juan politicizing hurricane relief to assist herself in her potential run for Governor of Puerto Rico? National Review columnist and author of “Liberal Fascism” and “The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in War of Ideas,” Jonah Goldberg joins Dan and Amy to discuss the politicization of Puerto Rico hurricane relief.

Does the increased competition from school choice improve the quality of public schools? Has there been a close in the gap across racial lines in terms of college enrollment due to the program? What are the implications from this study that may take effect in Illinois’ new tax credit scholarship program? Research Associate for the Urban Institute and co-author of study “The Effects of Statewide Private School Choice on College Enrollment and Graduation,” Dan Kuehn joins Dan and Amy to discuss.

Gov. Rauner said he had no social agenda. His wife said they are both social justice warriors. Someone turned out to be a liar. State Rep. Peter Breen does not believe Governor Rauner should be the 2018 Republican nominee for Governor saying, “The Rauner experiment is over and we need to move through the five stages of grief as fast as possible.” Rauner broke his word. How can we trust anything he says now? The Planned Parenthood chair was allowed in the press conference announcing Rauner would sign taxpayer funding of abortion but not the Republican House Floor Leader? Republican Representative Peter Breen joins Dan and Amy to discuss his reaction to the signing of taxpayer funding of abortion and Rauner’s political future.

“In the case of public sector unions, it’s all political speech, everything they’re doing is political and forcing someone to pay to subsidize that speech against their will is a violation of their first amendment free speech rights.” Why are workers forced to pay unions that they do not want to be associated with? Why are workers like Mike Janus forced to finance the salaries of big union bosses that don’t align with their own views? President of the Liberty Justice Center, Pat Hughes joins Dan and Amy to discuss the Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME and why Janus will win.